Safe Bet
by sngsngsnyrslp
Summary: Gale Hawthorne is a playboy. After taking on a bet concerning Madge Undersee, he finds that things aren't as simple as they seem, especially not where his feelings are concerned. drabble fic
1. Chapter 1

_This is going to be a few chapters so I put it as a separate story. I hope you like it!_

_(Request from tumblr) _

* * *

"You think you could do it?" Thom asks me, his hands lighting and relighting the lighter he always keeps with him, a silver zippo.

I smirk at him. "I think I could get any girl." Undersee is no different than any other girl, would fall to the same Hawthorne charms, just like the rest. A wolfish smile at the start and a "genuine" one after a few meetings. It makes them think there's more to me, makes them thing they're the one who can unleash it. Girls can be really stupid.

"I'll put money on it."

"Do you even have money?"

It's Thom's turn to smirk. "Don't worry about it, just get Undersee and we'll talk about the money."

"So we're betting money?"

"Yeah, so cash in your piggybank." He begins the walk to my shitty car, this beetle from the '60s that doesn't have a heater.

I continue staring at Undersee. She's pretty, very pretty, blonde hair falling to her waist in waves, jeans moving over soft curves and a pink sweater that brings out the flush on her cheeks. I could work with this.

I turn around, forming my plan as I walk to the car.


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanks for reading!_

* * *

"Hey, blondie!" I yelled catching my target's blonde hair move through the doorway to the school.

Her hair flipped as she looked over her shoulder at me. "Gale," she said and continued walking, only stopping to look at me when she had arrived at her locker. "Is there something you want?"

If this was any other girl I could've said, '_You,' _but I was smart enough to know that she wouldn't appreciate that.

"You intrigue me." That was safe enough.

"That's nice." She slammed her locker shut.

I trailed behind her. "You really don't care?"

She observed me from over her shoulder again. It was a good look for her. She looked damn right sexy, now if only she just didn't have any clothes on we'd be set.

Madge scrunched her face up really cute, as if contemplating my question. "Nah, I really don't think I do."

I grabbed her arm. "Why not?"

"I want to take you out on a date."

"A date? You must really be joking if you think that I'm going to go out on a date with you."

"Why not Undersee? I could show you a good time."

"With or without our clothes on?"

"Either, or, babe." I gave her a wink.

"Yeah, I don't think so." She looked over my body. "I don't think you're my type."

"I'm everyone's type, Undersee."

She threw her head back, laughing. "Hardly. You really do need a lesson in humility, Hawthorne."

"Are you going to be the one to give it to me? Hit me with a ruler when I'm bad? Because that is right up my alley."

"That's cute, Hawthorne."

I grinned at her. "Cute, eh? I think I might be just your type, Undersee."

"We'll see, Hawthorne."

"Does that mean you'll let me take you out?"

She tipped her head thoughtfully, "One date and if you're a dick, you'll leave me alone."

"Trust me. You won't want me to leave you alone after our date."


	3. Chapter 3

_Here ya go. I hope you like it! :) Writing asshole Gale makes me happy in a weird way._

* * *

I tell myself that this is no different to any other date with any of the other rich girl. She's no one. The house might be a little bigger and she might be a little prettier, but that's it. The rest doesn't matter. It's nothing but a bet.

I knock on the door. I pretend that it doesn't have a fucking fancy doorknocker, delicately crafted, probably cost enough so my mother or I wouldn't have to work either of out shitty jobs for at least a week.

She appears at the door, her face flushed, but her curls looked as if she made an attempt to tame them for our date. I looked over her chosen clothing for our outing. She looked cute, like she wasn't trying too hard, but like she was making an effort. It was definitely not what girls usually wore out with me. They usually dressed to impress and by that I mean impress my cock, short skirts, low cut tops, the kind of clothes that her dad would definitely forbid her to leave the house in.

I'm pretty sure my mom would compliment her blouse and my little sister would love her pink cardigan.

"I can't go out tonight, sorry Hawthorne," she leans her head against the doorframe, her blue eyes shining.

"What?"

She gives me this look, like she's not fucking with me and is actually sorry that she's going to be missing our date.

"What happened?"

She turns back toward her house, looking at the staircase located at the center of the foyer. I try and not kill myself over the fact that this house has a fucking foyer the size of half my house. I can tell that much even with the door half closed _and_ her body blocking my view.

"It's my mom. She's sick and I kind of have to be home to take care of her."

"Oh," I say, shoving my hands into my pocket. Okay, that's a real reason. I can't be a dick and try and convince her out of it.

I hear a television blaring loudly in the background and what sounds like sounds of sex coming from it. I push past Madge because honestly what the fuck could Princess be watching that would sound like that?

She follows me into their gigantic living room. "It's Game of Thrones."

"Game of Thrones? That nerd show?" I ask even though I shouldn't because it makes me sound like an asshole because she obviously likes it and I just said it was for nerds.

She gives me a pointed stare. "It's not for nerds. It's a crossover hit. I'm sure you'd love it. There's plenty of nudity in it to keep your interest."

I turn my gaze toward her. Okay, yeah there are naked chicks on the screen and I can handle myself enough to look at her instead of them, even if she is fully clothed.

"I don't only care about nudity, Madge. I like action and plot sometimes."

She raised her eyebrow at me. "What are you doing?" She asked as I sat myself down on the couch.

"What?" I asked innocently.

"You're sitting on my couch after I just told you that we couldn't go out. What are you doing?"

I grinned up at her, not the wolfish grin, but the genuine one, because I honestly just liked the way she was looking at me, like she was so fucking baffled that I would even deign to talk to her if it meant that I wasn't going to be able to take her to the slagheap or seduce her in the back of my shitty Volkswagen. That's probably where she thought I was going to take her. I admit, I could've taken any other girl there and it would've worked, I would've gotten to second or third base easy, but Madge well she wasn't like the other girls. I already knew she was going to take effort and if that meant watching this nerd show with her and staying in when I would rather go out then so be it.

"Why can't we watch this Game of Thrones together, here? You can take care of your mom and I can get my date. We both win."

She looked me over, like she was deciding whether or not it would be worth arguing with me on the point. Honestly, it wasn't. I'm pretty stubborn when I want to be. She should know that considering that's how I got her to agree on this date in the first place.

"Okay," she murmured, bending down right in front of me to change discs. "I'm putting on the first episode because I don't want to pause to answer questions."

I tried not to give her any lip about that, but I was really trying not to stare at her ass. It was nice, like really nice. You look at a girl like Undersee and you really don't imagine she'd have such a great body because she really doesn't go out with tons of guys and for the most part the guys don't talk about her and guys talk about the girls who are as shapely and for the most part even less shapely than Undersee over here. All I've heard about Undersee is from Beau Mellark and it was that she was a prude. Frankly, I think that he didn't know how to work her. You can't just treat her like any other girl, because she's not. She's special and it was Mellark's fault that he couldn't see that.

She sits back down, sitting on her hands. "Alright, get ready to have your world changed."

I scoff and lean back into the sofa.

* * *

I lean forward and bury my face in my hands. "He's an asshole. I would fucking kill him. Why hasn't anyone killed him already? If I were the Hound I would've fucking shoved my sword down his throat."

Madge giggles. "But then they would have your head."

"And it'd be worth it, just to have him be dead. I'd be doing the people of Westeros a favor. I'd be loved by all."

"And then you wouldn't have all those fair maidens knocking at your door because you'd be dead."

I turn to her and grin. "Would you have been one of those fair maidens?"

She takes a sip of her drink and then shakes her head. "I don't think so."

"Why not?"

"I don't want to be one of many."

I sit silent. "Well you don't have to be." I'm not lying. I may fuck around with girls and all that, but I never fuck around with more than one at once, that's too much even for me.

She looks at me, and if I were any other guy I'd probably be wrapped around her finger just with that one look, but I'm me so I'm not. She kind of smiles at me and that's where I feel myself break a bit, but I don't. (Maybe I do just a little bit.)

I see her take her legs off of the coffee table and I glance at the time. "Oh shit. It's 12:30 in the morning. My mom is going to be pissed." I stand up and run my fingers through my hair.

"You have a curfew?"

I glance at her and narrow my eyes. "Yes, Gale Hawthorne has a curfew. So long as I live under my mother's roof I'll have one."

Madge grins at me. "I don't even have a curfew so that's hilarious to me."

"You don't have a curfew I ask," leaning against the doorframe.

She plays with her hands. "No. It's hard to have a curfew when there's no one home to make sure you abide by it."

I feel really shitty thinking of Madge coming home to this basically empty house. It's obvious that her mother is too sick to have a real presence in her life and where is her dad? It's 12:30 in the fucking morning and he's nowhere to be seen. That's pretty fucked up. It gets even worse when I remember that her father's been the mayor since I can remember, so probably since I was born, maybe even before. So this is all Madge knows. She probably doesn't know what it's like to have two parents to come home to and who are constantly in your life and just are fucking there for you when you're growing up. Yeah, my dad died when I was fourteen, but he was always there for me growing up and since then my mom stepped up.

I'm mad, like ridiculously so, thinking of Madge losing out on that. So when I say goodbye to her I don't even try and get a kiss because my head is not in it right now, so I just lean in and press my lips to her cheek. If I wasn't so mad I would've been able to get something out of it, the softness of her skin, something, but I get nothing because I can't get that awful feeling out of my gut.

I thank her for the good night, but it's not lost on me that she looks confused by my sudden change of mood. I wave goodbye from the car because honestly there isn't shit I can do to change it now. And now to face the wrath of Hazelle Hawthorne.


	4. Chapter 4

"How are things going with the mayor's daughter?" I crush the anger that swelled inside of me that he doesn't know her name, or pretends that he doesn't, or just that he thinks that being the mayor's daughter gives her some type of worth above the rest of us. She does that all on her own, mayor's daughter or not.

"Progressing."

His eyebrow rose. "Really? That's all you're going to tell me?"

"I don't know what else you want?" I bury my face in my locker, searching for the worksheet given during class that I most definitely didn't do. I'm sure I can find someone to copy it off of before seventh period.

He chucked, his hand moving to the inside of his pants pocket, where I knew his hand was gripping the zippo. He'd get in trouble if he took it out right now and flicked it on and off. It was a habit of his outside of school where it usually included a cigarette in his mouth, but in school his hand was always going to that pocket, ensuring that it was still there. "I want what I always get with your girls. Details, my friend." His arm came around my shoulders. "Is she a moaner? She looks like a moaner and definitely a biter. I wouldn't be shocked if she scratched either."

I shrugged him off immediately, slamming my locker shut and spinning the dial. "Shut the fuck up, Thom."

His grey eyes glinted with amusement. "Does Gale Hawthorne have feelings for one of his girls?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. This was different. I'd never cared about a girl. I'd never had to try this hard. And I had never in my entire fucking life spent my days daydreaming. This whole situation was something I wasn't prepared for. I already could fucking tell. He could already tell. It was why he was giving me an out.

I didn't take it.

I was a selfish asshole.

xxx

I walked into the classroom, flashing a grin to Ms. Lewis, the Spanish teacher. She loved me. She was practically in a puddle on the floor every time I smiled at her.

"Hola hermosa," I whispered to Undersee, my lips just grazing her earlobe. Her body shivered. Success.

I slid into the seat beside her.

She flushed, noticing all the jealous girls looking at us. I kept eye contact with her, even if her head was bent, her eyes avoiding mine, as if that would make me disappear.

"So did I hold off enough on the asshole to deserve another date?"

My eyes found her blue eyes as they shifted sideway toward me. I smiled. She had the prettiest blue eyes, like the ocean at night, this dark blue that just brought out the doll-like quality of her pale skin.

"You did okay, but I've had better dates."

My jaw tensed.

And like the motherfucker's ears were burning, Beau Mellark stood in front of me. "Hawthorne," he said with disdain. "You're in my seat."

I slid out, opting to crouch beside Madge, my chin on the edge of her desk, looking up at her. "Madge, let me take you out tonight. I promise you'll have fun." It had been days since our 'date' and I was existing in a place between needing another fix of her and just wanting to accept the challenge, whatever that meant.

She smiled, her teeth catching her bottom lip. I was one second away from catching it between mine. "Okay," she said nodding. I could feel Mellark's ice blue eyes freezing me to my spot, but I could give less of a shit. He had his chance with Madge. It was my turn now.

I slipped out of the classroom, sending Ms. Lewis a salute and an 'adios' on my way out.

xxx

I tugged on her hand, grinning at how ridiculous she looked, her other hand covering her eyes per my request, and this cute scowl on her face.

"Can I take my hand off my eyes?" She groaned. "This is so stupid. I can just open my fingers and see through the slots."

I laughed. "Yeah, but you won't Undersee. You're too honest for that kind of trickery."

She muttered something indecipherable underneath her breath.

"Watch your language."

The tip of her mouth curved upwards. "How'd you know?"

"I didn't. It was just a good guess."

She laughed and the warmth of it wrapped around me like the wool blanket I had laid out at the center of the meadow. It was one of my favorite places to go. I had never brought a girl out here, but I thought that she would like it. Maybe it could get some points in with me as well. I figured it couldn't hurt.

I sat her down on the wool blanket, laughing as she muttered something about how I should have told her so she wouldn't have worn a dress. She was wearing tights, it's not like I was going to get a good look at anything. Thankfully, her dress was more on the low-cut side, well not low-cut low-cut, but low-cut for Undersee, so I was able to get a good look at the top of her cleavage, the subtle curve over her tits. With a body like hers, I found myself wishing she dressed like the girls I usually took out, but then I remembered who I was talking about and remembered that she'd probably pair any short skirt with a cardigan and any low-cut top with a camisole or tank-top underneath.

I sat down next to her, stretching out my legs in front of me.

"You can take off your makeshift blindfold now."

She laughed, removing her hand from her eyes. "Finally." She blinked a few times, her head turning, her eyes finding mine. "What is this place?"

"It's a place I found. It's my favorite place in town. I thought you'd like it."

"You thought right," she whispered and I felt a surge of pride swell within me. I didn't know if it was because I actually liked her or because of the challenge he was giving me, but I took anything and everything she gave me that I could somehow construe as positive. (Her sarcastic remarks had been hard to manipulate into that category, but I managed to convince myself that that was just how she flirted).

"Gale, er, you're kind of staring. Is there something on my face."

I shook my head. I tried to ignore the heat rising from my cheeks from being caught. "Well you're very beauti-"

Her hand came out to rest on my knee, stopping me from speaking. "Think of another pick-up line, Hawthorne." She gave me this shit-eating grin and I couldn't help but laugh even though I was sort of thrown off kilter at her interruption.

"You make it really hard to compliment you."

She ran a hand through her hair, effectively mussing it and giving me a hard-on. Hair, it was kind of my thing, and Madge had good hair, wild curls that drove me crazy.

"I just don't like bullshit."

"I wasn't bullshitting you."

She gave me a pointed look. "Don't feed me lines that you've given to other girls, okay?"

I nodded. "Fair enough." I moved back, leaning back on my forearms. "Though that wasn't one of my lines."

"Bullshit."

I shrugged. "You don't have to believe me, Undersee, but it's the truth."

Her eyes searched mine and when they stopped I wondered if she had found what she was looking for. She turned, looking up at the stars, shaking her head slightly.

"I don't know any of the constellations. Do you?"

"Yeah. When I was little it was kind of my hobby. Star-gazing." The ends of her mouth turned upwards, her teeth shining white in moon's light, perfectly straight from years of dental work. I could still faintly remember her braces. "Uhm, I could point them out if you want," I added.

She nodded. I leaned into her pointing out a few, giving her plenty of time to form the pictures in her head. "It's hard at first, but soon enough your imagination will catch on."

I watched her profile closely, my eyes moving down her forehead to the smooth slope of her nose and down to the curve of her cupid's bow. She had such pouty lips, lips made for kissing. I'd been wanting to kiss her, but I knew better. With her bullshit line about me, she was definitely not willing to kiss me and probably didn't want to be kissed by me yet. I'd change that soon enough, this star-gazing was working in my favor. I could tell by the way she kept turning to me to see if I was seeing what she was seeing. What I was seeing was much better I'm sure.

xxx

"Thank you, Gale," she said, her fingers playing with the edge of her cardigan, her fingers circling the buttons over and over again.

"So can I trust that I get another one of these?"

She nodded, smiling slightly. "If they're as good as this one, then definitely."

"No pressure or anything," I murmured, laughing.

She leaned into me, pressing her lips against the fleshy part of my cheek, right underneath my cheekbones. Her lips lingered on my skin and it took every ounce of control I had to not grab her and kiss her on the lips.

"I definitely think you can top yourself or at least be up to the challenge."

I grinned, on a mini-high from the kiss, even if it was on my cheek it was progress. Last time I had initiated the kiss on her cheek, this time she had. Definitely progress.

I was up for the challenge.


	5. Chapter 5

_New update! I'd love to know how you feel about how the story is moving along. _

* * *

I leaned against the locker beside hers, attempting to angle my head so I could look at her, but she was too busy searching for other gym shoe buried at the bottom of her locker.

"Your locker is really dirty."

She turned to shoot me a dirty look. "You think?"

I ignored her. "You don't really look like your locker would be this disgusting. You look like you'd be a clean freak."

"I'm sorry I haven't lived up to yet another one of your standards. I guess I'll never be your dream girl." She faked a sigh and then reached into the bottom of her locker. She breathed a sigh of relief. "It was just buried underneath a binder."

"So about our date tonight," I grinned, shutting her locker.

"What about it?" She turned to look at me, her ponytail whipping along with her.

I draped my arm around her shoulders, just for her to blush and shrug it off. Any other girl and I'd be halfway down the hall without a second glance, but Madge just looked so goddamn adorable blushing that I didn't even think twice about it. She was a challenge. I knew that going into this.

I leaned down to whisper in her ear. "I hope you know you'll tire of playing hard to get long before I do." She rolled her eyes at me.

"I'm not a tree for you to pee on."

I grinned down at her. "Of course you're not. You're too short."

She moved to punch me in the arm, but I backed away, accidentally hitting two freshman girls who were too excited to have been touched by me to care.

"It's shit like that that makes it hard to like you, Hawthorne."

I looked behind me at the two girls staring at us walk by.

"Your fangirls are not my biggest fans."

"What do they matter? You're my girl, not them," I murmured, wrapping an arm around her waist to pull her toward me. She stopped turning toward me, her eyes searching mine. Her eyes fell to my chest and I felt her small arms wrap around my torso, her head nuzzling into my chest.

My chest filled with warmth at the feeling of her in my arms. I kissed her hair and almost pulled her back when she tried to pull away.

"I've got to get to class," she said smiling.

I kissed her cheek. "I'll meet you after your lunch, okay?"

XXX

I was pacing in my small kitchen, my hands raking through my hair roughly. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. This was ruining everything. I had a date with Madge tonight. I was finally making progress and then my mom has to take an extra shift. Fuck. I wasn't mad at her because shit I knew we needed the money, it was why I was going in to the garage tomorrow and worked as a stock boy at the grocery store too. I knew that we needed money and couldn't pass up opportunities to pick up shifts, but fuck nonetheless. This was putting a major damper on my plans.

"Are you okay?" Rory asked, biting into an apple, his lanky body leaning against the refrigerator.

I nodded. "Yeah. Are you old enough to take care of Posy and Vick?" I looked hard at him, looking him over, fourteen and a fuckton of trouble. "Nope. Fuck."

"Didn't you have a date or something tonight?"

I shot him a look. "Have you been eavesdropping on my phone calls?"

He gave me a look, his face bored. "If there was anything on TV I wouldn't have to." He took a bite out of the apple and spoke with his mouth full. "You talk to her more than you ever talked to the other girls."

I narrowed my eyes at him. That was true, but I didn't need him telling me that. "How's Prim doing?" His eyes widened.

"Fine. I don't know. Why are you asking me?"

I smirked at him. "Does Katniss know that you think about her baby sister when you jerk off?"

He threw the core of his apple at me. "Shut up!"

I laughed. "I'm not going to say anything." I mussed his hair as I walked passed him.

"So is she your girlfriend?"

"Who?"

He gave me a blank stare. "Uh. Madge? That's her name right?"

"Yeah, but no. I'm still working on it." I rubbed the back of my neck. I still had a bit to go with her too. We could stay up all night talking on the phone, but sometimes when she was right in front of me I could feel myself choking, saying the wrong things. Overnight we would take a few steps forward and all it took a few words from others or myself to send her running back, but we were making progress. Our hug in the hallway told me that much. She didn't even argue when I called her 'my girl,' which was sounding better and better the more I thought about it. I liked Madge. I could be honest with myself about that, but the rest, well that was up in the air for me. I'd never had a girlfriend, not like the one that Madge would be if we finally got together in that way. But I wasn't completely turned off by the idea.

I called her. She answered a bit out of breath.

"What are you doing?" I asked. "Running a marathon?"

She laughed and that made me smile. She had a nice laugh, not one of those annoying ones that actually make you not want to make the person laugh. "No, I was just downstairs and I heard the phone ring. What's up?"

"I've got some bad news."

"Bad news? You got a hotter date and you're trying to think of an excuse?"

"No. My mom had to work so I have to take care of my little brothers and sister."

"You don't have to take care of me!" Rory yelled from the living room.

I groaned. "Prim, Rory. Prim fucking Everdeen."

He shut up.

"Why are you saying Katniss's little sister's name?"

"Oh well, my younger brother Rory has the hots for her and Katniss would beat the shit out of him if she knew."

She laughed lightly. "I don't know. Is your brother more respectable than you are?"

"Not by much."

"Then he has absolutely no chance."

XXX

We were halfway through an episode of Spongebob when someone knocked on the front door.

I furrowed my eyebrows and nodded to Vick to go answer it. We weren't expecting anyone and Thom would still be at work at this time, Bristel too.

Vick turned toward us. "Gale, there's a pretty girl at the door."

I carried Posy with me to the door. "Who do you think it is?" I whispered in her ear.

She grinned at me. "A princess?"

Madge's blue eyes met mine over my brother's head.

I looked to Posy. "I think you were right. There's a princess at our door."

Madge rolled her eyes at me. "I'm not a princess," she tugged anxiously at the hem of her dress.

"She sure is pretty enough to be a princess," Vick said, his eyes wide as he looked at her. My brother was right. She looked really fucking pretty and now I realized that she probably had been all ready for our date when I called to cancel. Her hair was still a bit wild, just how I liked it, the front smoothed down by a headband. God, sometimes it was like she knew all my little secrets. I loved headbands on girls. It was probably a preference from grade school. As if that wasn't enough, she was wearing another dress with tights combo, except with these boots that made her come up to my chin and made her look way less nice than the headband did. Her legs looked like a thousand miles long and I tried with everything I had in my body not to think of them wrapped around me.

I leaned into her, kissing her on the cheek. "What are you doing here? Not that I'm not happy to see you."

"Payback for our first date."

I grinned, but Posy was hitting me in the chest, wanting to be introduced. "This is Posy, my beautiful little sister." She buried her face into my neck. I laughed. "She just needs to get used to you being around and then she'll never let you leave." I nodded toward Vick, who was still staring wide-eyed at her. "That's Vick and Rory is either in the living room or hiding in our room." She stepped in, her hand wrapped tightly around the strap of her purse.

I reached out and grabbed her hand, linking our fingers. "Uh. Sorry about the mess. I would've cleaned up if I knew that you were coming over. I probably would've grounded all of them too."

Posy murmured that she hadn't done anything wrong into my neck. I chuckled, "Except you, Pose." I turned to Madge. "Er. Do you like Spongebob?"

She grinned. "Do I ever! And I brought over the entire series of Powerpuff Girls!"

I almost put down Posy right then to kiss her. She looked so fucking cute. Her blue eyes so bright and just the thought that she had actually cared about the stupid stories I told about my family and had listened to the fact that we had shit TV with no cable and mostly just watched DVDs we could rent from the library. No other girls had cared about me like that. Anytime I was talking about my family I would usually catch myself mid-story and stop, knowing she would rather make out or fool around than hear about how Vick shot out a strawberry milkshake out of his nose after Rory told him the stupidest joke known to man, some joke off of a Laffy Taffy wrapper. I think Delia Parker told me that she hated Laffy Taffys and kissed me to shut me up.

I don't think Madge would do that, not even counting the fact that we had yet to kiss, but Madge laughed and listened telling me her own stories, though I noticed there weren't many after her mom got sick. That's usually when there was a lull in the conversation because I got stuck in my head thinking about a younger Madge sitting alone in that big house, staying home to take care of her mom instead of hanging out with the kids on her block.

It made me really sad, but then Madge squeezed my fingers, a concerned look on her face. I sat her down on the couch next to me, Posy on my lap. Vick sat on the floor, his back to the couch. Rory was definitely hiding in our room.

"Rory, it's not Katniss you can come out now!" I called.

Rory came out, his hands buried in his pockets, a blush on his cheeks.

"I was just checking to see if I had homework," he lied smoothly.

I smirked at him, but didn't call him out in front of Madge and the kids. "Do you have any? Because Ma's gonna check when she gets home."

"I know, I know. I'll do it in a bit." His eyes widened when they landed on Madge, before giving her the up and the down, but then he stuck out his hand to cover up how obvious it was that he was checking her out. I narrowed my eyes at him. "I'm Rory."

"Madge," she said, shaking his hand back. "Are you going to watch TV with us?"

He looked at the television, and looked back at us, sitting himself on the loveseat adjacent to the couch. "Just for awhile. I've got math homework."

XXX

A few hours later Posy had already gotten tucked into bed with Madge's help. Posy couldn't get enough of her reading to her. We would've gotten her to bed a half hour earlier, but she kept begging for another story.

I'll admit it was really cute how Madge changed her voice for each character and made these wide sweeping gestures with her hands as she story untold. Posy was riveted, completely captivated by the blonde and I couldn't blame her. It was hard not to be. I wasn't always listening because I was too caught up with how completely beautiful she looked.

It was one of the several times I wanted to kiss her that night.

Around nine o'clock, Vick and Rory had left the living room to us and we sat around talking, Powerpuff Girls in the background. Madge was leaning into my side, my arm wrapped around her, her legs outstretched tucked underneath a pillow. Her heels had been kicked off a long time ago, after Mojo tried to conquer the world the second time, so her legs were back to their original shortness.

There was so much I didn't know about Madge. I guess I always assumed that having money was enough. I mean I knew that it didn't make her family life awesome, since her father was never home because he was out making money, but I'd always assumed at school things were better. I had to try and get people to like me, not very hard, but I had always been aware of which friends I would be able to bring over and which ones I couldn't. It was very unsettling that Madge was over actually, but Madge hadn't even given the small house a second glance, not in the way I had thought she would. She looked at the family photos on the wall, making funny or just breaking down and cooing at the pictures. It was adorable. She didn't give the generic brand soda a second glance, drinking it happily.

An hour later my mom came home and Madge's head shot up, removing her feet from the sofa's cushions and sitting up straight, the perfect picture of posture. I laughed at her and she shot me a dirty look, murmuring under her breath how I should've warned her, but I knew she didn't need it. My mom liked most everyone and Madge was a hell of a lot better than any of the other girls she had met accidentally, always accidentally because I knew that they weren't going to be coming back. They didn't mean shit to me and half would be exchanged for another in a week or so, but Madge was different. I actually wanted her to meet Madge.

"Gale, did Thom get a new car because that Jetta is a beauty."

"It's mine," Madge answered.

I grabbed Madge's hand, leading her to the kitchen to meet my ma. "Ma, I have someone I want you to meet."

Madge stuck out her hand. "It's nice to meet you Mrs. Hawthorne. I'm Madge Undersee."

"Hazelle, call me Hazelle." She looked over at me, smiling a little too brightly. I groaned, a story was coming on, or worse. "Have you seen Gale as a baby?"

Blue eyes found mine and I could see the smirk on her pretty pink lips. "No, I haven't, but I would love to."

My mother and Madge really hit it off. They spent most of their time teasing me and looking at me half naked as an infant or toddler. If Madge weren't so freaking cute I would've probably found a way to kick her out of my house already, but alas she would squeeze my hand or send a smile my way and I wasn't bothered at all anymore. I was really getting soft.

It took me a really look time to extricate Madge from Ma, but I eventually did get her to myself for a few minutes before I had to send her on her way home.

She was sitting on the hood of her car. My arms were around her under the guise that it was cold out, but I just wanted to be as close as possible to her.

"You were really cute when you were little," she said smiling up at me before she touched her forehead to the top of my chest.

"What about now?"

She looked up at me, blue eyes shining in the moonlight. "You're pretty cute now too." I grinned like a dumbass at her. "It's really sweet how you take care of your siblings."

"It's even sweeter that you didn't try to kill yourself when Posy asked you a thousand times if you were sure you weren't a princess."

"She's cute."

"Yeah she is and she adored you."

"What about your mom? Do you think she liked me?"

"My mom loved you. How can you even ask me that? When you were in the bathroom she couldn't stop telling me how beautiful and smart my girl was."

"Your girl, huh? Is that what I am?"

I pulled her closer to me a bit. "If that's what you want to be." I cleared my throat. "Is it?"

She leaned up, catching my lips with hers. She took my bottom lip between hers, lightly sucking on it. I tried my best not to groan into her mouth. I ran my tongue along her lips until she opened her mouth. She tasted like strawberry bubblegum, the same kind she always kept in her bookbag. Bubblicious. I ran my tongue along the inside of her cheek before finding hers, when I did I couldn't help but groan into her mouth.

I'd kissed tons of girls in my lifetime, but not one of them could compare to Madge. All this holding out on me made me want more. I could've spent hours in the cool night kissing Madge Undersee under the stars.

She was the first to pull away, pressing pecks to my lips as she moved away from me. My arms stayed where they were, around her waist. I kissed her on the forehead, murmuring something about how she was my girl. I could feel her grin against the skin of my neck. Yep, she was definitely my girl, bet or no bet.


	6. Chapter 6

_a little bit of fluff a little bit more than that. _

_i hope you enjoy it while you can..._

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This wasn't my first time making out with a pretty girl, not by a long shot. However, it was my first time making out with Madge and that was a whole different ballpark. Her hair was fanned out over her pillow, her fingers combing through my hair. My hand was at her hip, my thumb gently rubbing circles into her hip. Her skin was so smooth and soft it took everything in me to not inch my hand further up her shirt and explore more uncharted territory. If it had been any other girl I would've already been at second base, but things with Madge were different.

I couldn't count how many girls I had kissed in my seventeen years and I started to wonder if Madge could count the boys she had kissed. I hated myself for getting onto that line of thought, but I couldn't help it. Beau was her only boyfriend that I knew of, but Madge was a pretty private person. The only reason I could figure I even knew about Mellark was because he was well known around school. I cringed at the thought of him in my place, his fingers clutching the edge of her shirt and his tongue swiping at the insides of her mouth.

I moved away from her, resting my forehead against her shoulder. It was hard to kiss her the way she deserved to be kissed when I had her ex-boyfriend on my mind.

"Is something wrong?"

I sat up; looking into her ocean blue eyes and shook my head. "It's nothing. I just need to take a breather."

She furrowed her eyebrows and fought off a frown.

I kissed her between them, attempting to undo the creases. "I just-."

"What?" She sat up putting her hand on my shoulder, her eyes warm. It made me feel so fucking guilty I could hardly stand to breathe the same air as her. I knew what had brought me here, a fucking bet. A bet brought me Madge and gave me the opportunity to gain her trust, sneak in through her window (and maybe even to second base). I was fucked.

"It's okay," she mumbled, looking down at her folded hands in her lap.

"What?" I was getting too preoccupied with my thoughts. I was losing track of the beautiful blonde in front of me who I should've been kissing and touching.

"If you uh…" she trailed off, her cheeks as red as a fire truck, "you know… get excited." She covered her reddening face with her hands, her next words muffled. "I can't believe I just said that. That was really presumptuous of me. I don't' think that kissing me would give you a boner. It's just that you're acting a bit off."

I laughed, pressing a kiss to her hands, right in the spot where her mouth laid underneath. "You're adorable."

She uncovered her face, her lips twisting into a scowl as she narrowed her eyes at me.

"I'm sure all the boys get hard around you."

She blushed this time, looking far away from me. "You're funny, Hawthorne."

I leaned over her, most of my weight on my forearms. "What?" I said smirking. "You're sexy." It was undeniably true.

"I am not."

I pressed a kiss to the edge of her mouth. "You are definitely sexy. I'm sure Mellark would agree with me on that one." Why was Mellark pervading my every thought?

She pushed me away, an attempt to ease some of the weight I had off of her. "He's completely over me. I don't know what you're talking about. We're just friends."

I grinned at her. The last thing that asshole had on his mind was just being Madge's friends I saw the way he looked at her and more importantly I saw the way that he looked at me, like I was moving in on his territory and needed to get away before I got what was coming from. "I don't think he's okay with that."

"He is. Trust me."

I pressed my lips to hers, running my hands through her hair, or at least as much of it as I could with her curly locks.

"I'm so jealous that he had any time with you like this." I was fishing for information in a way that I never had before. I didn't know how to do this without her knowing I was really asking about so I didn't even hide it because it's fucking true. I'm jealous. I can feel the blood in my veins boiling and I think of them in this bed together. The fact of the matter is that I've been in plenty of girls' beds, and even if I hadn't there is no reason I could have to call her out on anything that happened in this bed prior to us getting together. I have no rights to her past. All I want is her future.

"But he doesn't anymore, right? I'm your girl, not his." She switched our position. Now she was the one hovering over me, teasing me with her mouth barely an inch away from mine.

"You're mine," I murmur, my lips brushing against hers in the process.

"And you're mine," she says the words with certainty as if she already knows it's true. Her words make my breath catch in my throat. It's true. I can't even deny that anymore. I have feelings for her, ones that move beyond lust and a compulsive need to have as many girls as possible. The thought of having another girl isn't even appealing to me anymore. I don't want anyone but Madge. I care what she thinks about me. I've shared parts of my life with her that I haven't even attempted to with Thom. There's something between us and it will only get worse with the passing of time. If she were ever to find out about the bet then I can assure you that she won't be the only one with a broken heart. That much is true.


	7. Chapter 7

_next installment. tell me what you think. _

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I feel like a complete asshole, really fucking low.

I hitched a ride with Madge since my car needs new brakes and I haven't gotten my paycheck yet. She was way too happy when she picked me up, armed with a bagel, coffee for the both of us, and the whitest smile ever. She spent the entire time singing her some pop-punk band's music, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel and dancing along with the beat. It was so fucking cute I couldn't stand it and she wasn't even trying. She wasn't looking at me to make sure I was watching or anything. I was sure that she'd be doing the same thing if I were in the car or not.

But here's why I'm an asshole. Things were really developing between Madge and myself. We hadn't gone all the way yet, but things were steadily reaching that point. A few nights ago, clothes started being shed. It would only be some time before things progressed passed the shedding of clothes and onto some really heavy petting. It made me feel like shit.

I had been hoping that I could just forget about how I had found my way into Madge's heart. I really hoped that I could just put it passed me. I just wouldn't let Thom give me the money and that would be that. I'd be with Madge for however long she'd have me and that's all that would matter. But that wasn't going to happen. The guilt was eating me alive. I couldn't have her look at me like I was some goddamn prince when I was just a frog. I kissed her hand, which had found its way into my lap. I was trying my best to make the most of our time together since I had decided that I was going to tell Madge soon, well eventually. I just couldn't get up the nerve. I'd look at her, take in her beautiful smile or her sarcastic remark and I just couldn't find the words to tell her. I didn't want to let her go. If I told her I knew that it would be over. She'd never forgive me. She'd hate me and I couldn't stand to see that.

But now things were getting really serious. I couldn't be with her much longer if I didn't get this off of my chest. It was eating me up inside. My feelings had obviously moved passed just wanting a challenge or I would've

She parked in the school parking lot and turned to me. She leaned forward, her lips pressing against mine. I kissed back, savoring her because every kiss felt like it might be the last and if that was going to be the case then I wanted to remember every detail. Madge had been the game changer and even if when she discovered my secret she never wanted to talk to me again (as she shouldn't) then I wanted my time with her to be cemented in my heart.

She pulled away, gasping for breath. "What was that for?"

I moved a piece of her hair behind her ear, leaving a kiss on her nose. "I like you."

A grin spread across her face. "I like you too."

I kissed her one last time before we exited the car and we walked, hands clasped, into the school.

xxx

I was waiting with Thom outside of the school for Madge. She had book club and I didn't feel like sitting in the back, watching Beau Mellark drool all over my girl, trying his best to impress her with every literary technique that the author could have possibly used. It wasn't even like Madge was impressed or anything. It was just annoying. The worst part of it was that it could happen. After I finally told her, she could very well end up back in his arms.

To make things worse Thom decided this day of all days to hassle me.

"You won the bet, so take it." He handed me the fifty dollars, one crumpled twenty and three tens, one of which was torn in the corner. It looked dirty and it made me feel worse than I already did.

"I'm not taking it." I pushed away his hand.

He thrust it at me again. "Dude you're with Princess Undersee now and I didn't think you could get her, so you get the money. I always make good on my promises."

"I'm not taking it. Just keep it." I turned away from him, staring at the emptying parking lot.

Thom groaned and leaned forward, stuffing the money into the front pocket of my plaid shirt. "You did good Hawthorne. I never thought in a million years you could get Princess to fall for your bullshit."

Both of our grey eyes widened when we heard the gasp behind us. Her book club must have gotten out early. I turned around quickly, practically giving myself whiplash in the process. All I got was a glimpse of teary blue eyes and a blonde ponytail bouncing as its owner ran to the parking lot. I kept my eyes on the pink ribbon wrapped around her ponytail as I ran toward her. I knew I should give her space. I shouldn't go full steam ahead at her, but I needed to explain myself because things weren't exactly as they seemed. Yes, I was an asshole. I'm sure that's what she thought I was and she wouldn't be wrong. I was an asshole, but I was an asshole who was in love with her. I couldn't fake that and she needed to know that it was the truth.

I ran toward her car, dodging cars and people. She was just slamming the door by the time I made my way to the passenger door. "Madge, you have to listen to me. It's not how it seems. I swear. I swear to fucking God that it's not."

She shook her head, tears streaming down her eyes, but her jaw was tense. I could see the fury in her eyes, even only from the periphery I could tell. She wouldn't look at me, wouldn't even glance my way no matter how hard I banged on her window, no matter what I said or how loud I said it.

"You have to forgive me," I said, the desperation in my voice so obvious even to my own ears.

That did it. She finally turned to me and growled, "Step away from my car, Gale." I'd never seen someone look so angry in my entire life. I swear if looks could kill I would've been laid out on the fucking parking lot, tire tracks all over my body.

Reluctantly, I stepped back. Tears were stinging the back of my eyes and my sinuses were beginning to ache. I watched as Madge backed out, one hand coming up to wipe at her eyes before she drove off.

"Dude, I'm really fucking sorry," Thom stood next to me, eyes wide.

As if on instinct I reared back and punched him in the face. He didn't deserve it, but I was hurting. My chest ached like a motherfucker and it was beginning to get harder to breathe. "You should've just kept your mouth shut after I asked you to the first time."

Thom cradled his cheek, his eyes narrowing to slits aimed at me. "What the fuck dude?"

I crouched down in her empty parking space. "I fucked it up. I fucked up everything and now she'll never talk to me." I looked up, tears brimming my eyes. "I'm sorry Thom. I shouldn't have hit you."

I felt Thom's hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry too, bro."

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_thanks for reading!_


	8. Chapter 8

_I would've gotten this out the day after I posted the last chapter but I had a wedding to go to and then I got sick (I'm still sick, but I thought you guys deserved the next chapter). You guys were really sweet and I appreciate all of your comments. I know Gale's a jerk :( Here's a bit of him dealing with the consequences of his actions._

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I locked myself into my room as soon as I got home, slamming the door. I had walked the entire way home from school. It wasn't too far from school, just a few miles. Rory always chose to walk home instead of getting a ride from me. He walked Prim home everyday, except for in the wintertime, and then they hitched a ride with me. They liked their private time. It made me sick now.

I had liked my private time with Madge too, sitting beside her in the car, tugging on the ends of her unruly curls. I loved the way she leaned into my hand when I caressed her face and didn't hesitate to call me out on my shit.

It was going to be shit to tell my family. They were definitely going to be let down and it was all my fault. Since the first night she had spent with us she had came over more and more often to watch TV and play board games. We had only been together a month and a half, and they had already come to love her the way I did.

And I was guilty about it. Posy and Vick would miss her the most. She had spent the most of her time at the house with them, tucking Posy in every night and sharing jokes with Vick. They'd have a hard time without her comforting presence. Rory on the other hand would understand his predicament. He'd probably call him a dick, which was a worthy insult, but he was older and would get it. There was no way he could explain himself to Posy and Vick without them hating him.

Rory came home twenty minutes later, opening the door to our shared room. Vick would be home soon with Posy. "Hey, fathead what's up?"

I narrowed my eyes at him.

"What's your problem? You break up with Madge or something?" He had just meant it as a joke, but just hearing it aloud made my heart ache.

I turned away from him, staring out the small window at the fall landscape, orange and gold leaves the same color as the darker strands of Madge's hair. I looked away immediately. Everything reminded me of her.

"You guys b-broke up?"

I lay back on my bed with my hands tucked underneath my head. "I fucked up."

Rory sat down on his bed across from mine. "What did you do?"

I rubbed at my tired eyes. "I completely humiliated her."

"Why would you do that? I thought you liked her."

"I didn't like her. I fucking loved her and I fucking ruined it."

"But what did you actually do?"

I sat up. If I was going to tell him I at least needed to look him in the eye. "Okay so you know how me and Thom are kind of assholes?" I took a deep breath. "You know how we like to fuck around?"

Rory nodded. "Yeah. What does that have to do with it?"

"Well we kind of made this bet."

Rory sputtered, "You made a bet that you could date the mayor's daughter? She found out didn't she?" He ran his hand through his hair. "She found out. I assume you didn't even tell her and now she won't talk to you?"

I nodded. He shook his head, his shaggy dark hair moving with each turn of his head. "You really fucked up."

"Hey! Language!" I growled.

He laughed. "You know you're going to have to tell mom, right?"

"I know."

"She's going to be really disappointed."

"I know." I could see that sad look in my mother's eyes, the one that said she had raised us better. My mother was the nicest person I knew, sweet but tough and she coddle the hell out of us and kick our ass five minutes later. She would tell me exactly how she felt about what I had done, no sugarcoating things. But I was counting on the fact that after the long ass speech telling me I was an asshole she would give me advice on how to get her back. I just had to get her back, have her back in my arms again. I would do anything to see her smiling back at me.

I lay back on the bed. My heart dropped into my stomach when I remembered the look she gave me. I'd seen her annoyed at my "fangirls" and I'd seen her upset with her father, but I had never seen her angry, never like that. The fact that it was aimed at me made it hurt even worse. Her blue eyes no longer a warm ocean instead as cold as ice.

"I'm going to sleep."

Rory dropped his backpack on his bed and stood up. As he passed my laid out form he tugged on my foot. When he was younger I used to play pranks on him, tugging on his foot when he was sleeping, telling him it was a ghost. He wasn't able to sleep for days. It was just an affectionate gesture between us now.

xxx

I woke up when my ma got home. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and took deep breaths before sitting up in bed. I had dreamt about her. I had the feeling that I would be dreaming about her for a long time. Usually, this wouldn't be a problem to me. I had been dreaming about her for a while now. Those dreams usually involved very little clothes and lots of moans. Those dreams would be a thing of the past. My dreams were filled with ice blue eyes and tear stained cheeks. There was no escaping my mistake. I couldn't avoid it during sleep and my chest ached every waking moment. I'd never felt like this before. It was the worst kind of pain.

Rory was doing his homework in the living room, sitting cross-legged on the couch, a book on one knee and a notebook on the other. Vick was laying upside down next to him while a sleeping Posy slept on the loveseat beside them.

I could hear my ma in the kitchen, probably making herself a late dinner. I leaned against the doorway to the kitchen, resting my forehead on the cool wall. "Mom, can we talk?"

My mom looked up from her stew. "Of course." She gestured to the seat in front of her, which I sat in, I laid my head on the table. I felt her hands run through my hair. She'd be a lot less comforting after I told her what I did to one of the sweetest girls I'd ever dated.

"Can I get my story out before you say anything?" I looked up as I asked the question, my eyes still heavy with sleep.

She nodded, her hand coming down to touch my face. It was momentarily comforting, but it wasn't enough to make me feel any better.

"Me and Madge aren't together anymore."

I sat up in my seat, playing with a napkin in front of me, wringing it then laying it out flat and folding it to keep my hands busy while I got everything off of my chest.

"I didn't really start dating Madge with the best intentions." I sighed. "It was really stupid, okay? I know that now and I wish I had realized that now, but I didn't. I made a bet with Thom that I could get any girl I wanted. Madge just happened to be there and she was chosen. Thom definitely didn't I could get the mayor's daughter to date me. I mean she didn't date much and mostly kept to her small group of friends. So I asked her out and she really didn't want to, but I put on the charm and convinced her." I ran a hand through my hair, pulling at the strands slightly. "So we went out and we had a good time. I pretended to be this nice guy that was interested in the things she liked at first. By the time she came over that one day I wasn't pretending anymore. It was all real. We were talking on the phone every night until late and it wasn't just her either. It was me. I told her about dad and she told me about her sick mom. And I'm just a shitty person." I bit my lip, struggling to keep my emotions in any longer. "You should've seen the way she looked at me. I mean she didn't even want to look at me, like I made her sick. I make myself sick." I was breathing a lot faster now and the next sentence came out quickly the words strung together without any breaks. "I didn't take the money, Ma! I tried to get Thom to leave it alone, but she wouldn't and then he said that something shitty and that's what she heard." I rubbed at my eyes. "She's never going to talk to me again. She hates me."

I looked up at my mom. "She can't hate me."

My mother moved to sit beside me, pulling me into her arms. You know, I don't cry. I really don't cry, but when you feel like absolute shit and your mom comforts you it's really hard to not let go of your pent up emotions. It's your fucking ma. You are heartless if you disagree or your ma isn't as consoling as mine.

With my head against her chest I cried as hard as I had in years. Every time I closed my eyes I saw her ice-cold eyes aimed at me, her hands gripping the steering wheel. I had avoided telling her because I couldn't stand the thought of her acting that way toward me, but by not telling her I had ended up at the same conclusion, the exact same shitty predicament.

"I think you need to tell her."

I looked up, moving away from her to wipe at my eyes with the back of my hand. "I don't think she wants to talk to me."

"She just needs a bit more time. She's hurt."

"I'm scared Ma. What if she never wants to talk to me again?"

She sighed and brushed my hair away from my eyes. "If she feels the way I suspect she feels then I think she just needs time. You can forgive anything of the people you love." I nodded, happy with the advice she had given until she continued. "But if she never wants to talk to you again then you'll just have to be prepared for that. You hurt her a lot and she put a lot of trust in you."

I stood up, walking sulkily to the bathroom to get ready for bed. I felt my mother's presence as I brushed my teeth. I looked over to see her leaning in the doorway.

"I know you don't want to hear that she might not want to talk to you, but it might be the truth." I spit into the sink, looking over at my ma. The space between her eyebrows creased as she looked over my face. I'm sure she could see the distress plain on my face. The idea of Madge never talking to me made my heart sink into the depths of my stomach, but it was a real possibility, looking more and more likely the more I thought about it. "Why didn't you tell her?"

I finished brushing my teeth, wiping my mouth. "I didn't want to lose her."

She shook her head, her eyes on the tiled floor.

"It's not your fault. I know you think you did something wrong, but I'm the asshole. We were just fucking around. I didn't think it would go this far and I definitely didn't think I'd fall in love with her."

"It must be my fault for you to think you could treat girls like that in the first place. What were you thinking?"

I lowered my head, avoiding my mother's eyes. "I wasn't thinking. We were just messing around. Most girls are okay with just hooking up and then moving on."

Her hand moved to her hip. "Really Gale? You brought the girl to our house. You introduced her to me and you thought she'd be okay with just hooking up in the back of your Volkswagen? That doesn't make sense to me."

"I was already in too far by then. She already meant more to me then a bet by that time."

I could see the disappointment in her eyes, with each look my heart constricted. I was upsetting more people than just Madge with my jackass actions.

"You need to sorry. Even if she never forgives you she needs to hear an apology."

With that she turned, walking into the bedroom she shared with Posy.

I woke up during the night constantly, my hands constantly reaching for the hole in my heart.

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_next chapter: seeing madge at school :)_


	9. Chapter 9

_more angst because yeah... there will be a more head on interaction between the two next chapter I PROMISE!_

_thanks for reading!_

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As if it wasn't enough that I was heartbroken apparently my skull needed to be broken as well.

I know it was shitty attempting to corner her in an empty hallway, but I knew there was no other way she would talk to me. The entire school day had been tense. Even if she was across the hall I could feel her friends shooting daggers at me, though it was definitely well deserved. It had started before the day had even started.

I was just waiting for the day to end to talk to her. She always walked around through the empty hallways to get out of school quicker. I decided to follow her. It was my best chance of getting her alone and I needed to apologize. I was hoping that she would hear my sincerity and jump right into my arms. It was my best bet.

But it's probably better if I start from the beginning of the day.

xxx

To say I was dreading going to school would be an understatement. I didn't want to go if it was the zombie apocalypse and it was the last safe place on earth. I could see that heartbroken look on her face, her furrowed brows and all of her soft features twisted as tears fell down her face. I could only imagine how she would look at me today, if she even showed up. Though knowing Madge she would come to school just to show me that she was over it and over me.

I exited the car with Rory at my side. Even though I know he would rather be all over Prim, he insisted on supporting me and my "broken heart" as he way too often referred to it. Everything was fine, though I caught myself searching for her car, just wanting a glimpse of her since I knew I wouldn't be getting anywhere near her. My eyes settled on her blue Jetta. There was another blonde in the passenger seat. The blonde was turned toward Madge, who was looking out the window, hands gripping the steering wheel, while her friend looked like she was trying to comfort her or something, hand on her arm. When I passed by I couldn't help but continue looking at her, despite Rory's elbow in my ribs telling me to do the opposite of what I was doing.

Our eyes connected and for one second I could see the same heartbreak I had reflected in her eyes. I say one second because the next second she turned her head violently toward her friend, a frown on her lips.

It was like a ton of bricks right in my stomach. I had been expecting her to act like this toward me. I knew it. How could I expect her not to? I mean I fucking betted on her, like a shithead. She had no reason to like me, none at all. But that didn't mean it didn't fucking hurt. It hurt a lot. Rory patted me on the back. I stopped looking at her car and looked over at my brother, sending him a nod of silent thanks.

We went our separate ways for the day and I didn't see her at all. I definitely got my fair share of dirty looks from her friends. Beau was stared at me during lunch like he was one second away from jumping over a table and socking me in the face. I wouldn't blame him. I could imagine if little Mellark did something like this to Katniss I would be all over his ass before he could explain himself. What I did was shitty, there was nothing that could make it any less than what it was. The only thing I could even say in my defense was that my feelings were never faked. I looked forward to every phone call, movie session and kiss. That was real. I could never fake that, at least not that well.

The entire day passed by in a daze. I didn't learn a single thing. I couldn't concentrate on a single thing any of my teachers or classmates said. All I could think about was finding Madge after school. She always went through the back of school, by field house where the vending machines were located. No one else really exited that way, it was mostly traffic free except for a few cheerleaders and other kids in sports. I had made sure that I had all of my books in my bag before ninth period ended so I could hightail out of there and catch Madge, even if I had to wait and catch her by surprise.

She had apparently didn't make the trip to her locker because she was in front of me, a group of freshman between us. I jogged toward her, only fifteen feet between us now and I was about to call her name when I was pushed into a row of lockers.

My head fell backwards, hitting hard against the locker's slats. The edges felt a lot sharper when they hit my head than when I just touched them with my fingers. I groaned out, cursing. Not to mention that it really fucking hurt considering I had a backpack on.

I opened my eyes. It was Beau Mellark. Well that was to be expected. I don't think there was anyone in this school who hated me as much as he did, obviously other than Madge herself.

"What the fuck?" His hands fisted my jacket.

He glared at me, not even bothering to answer my question. "You don't get near her, okay?"

I turned to look at the her in question, seeing nothing but vending machines and a case of trophies. There wasn't a head of blonde hair in sight.

"She could forgive me, if you had just let me say sorry."

He pushed me back again, but not hard enough for my head to hit the lockers again. I pushed him back. I didn't want his fucking hands on me.

"Like you're any better. You think I didn't hear the shit you said about her when you were dating? I don't deserve her, but you sure as hell don't either."

"I was upset, okay?"

I furrowed my eyebrows at him, "Because she wouldn't put out? You're a dick."

"No, that she broke up with me in the first place. I was really fucking into her. I am really into her. I didn't even try anything like that with her because I don't care. If she wanted to take her time with things then who was I to fucking pressure her about shit. I liked her that much. I couldn't care less about that shit no matter how bad my friends hassled me about Virgin Undersee. I didn't care."

"So then she breaks your little heart and you go running your mouth like an asshole? Maybe you should stay away from her too, asshole."

He glared at me, obviously shrugging me off. "I was upset and I have no excuse for saying that shit. But she's forgiven me. It took a lot, but she's forgiven me. But you are a whole different fucking story. You betted on her. Played with her emotions. You're a dick on an entire different level." He was back in my face now, nostrils flaring and shit. "You're an asshole, dude. And she really liked you."

He pushed me back into the locker before walking down the hallway in the same direction as Madge.

Any other time I would have punched him in his stupid fucking face, but my mind was too focused on Madge. I had been so fucking close and she must have heard Mellark push me into the lockers, the hallways were practically empty and she didn't even turn back.

I had reached a new low.


	10. Chapter 10

_so stuff happens... they finally interact. _

* * *

I used to really like parties. It's a great place to meet girls and I like free beer. All in all, a great place to be for a guy like me.

But did I mention that I hate parties now? They're horrible. The beer is shit, two drinks per person? What kind of shit is that? Oh and the music. It's fucking awful; it's just a terrible throbbing in my head. Too much bass and some of the worst lyrics you've ever heard in your life.

Thom pretty much stayed by my side the entire time, even though I know he wanted to talk up some girls, but he was still feeling guilty for fucking things up with Madge. Though I told him time and time again it was all my fault.

After tasting the Natural Ice they had bought I had given my beers to Thom. I couldn't even enjoy my two shitty beers at this shit-hole.

"Dude, stop torturing yourself like that," Thom muttered, his head cocked toward me. His eyes darted toward the source of my torture, Madge swaying her hips to the music, her head thrown back in a laugh at whatever Delly had said in her ear. I was just happy that it wasn't Mellark she was attached to. My heart dropped at the mere thought, the image suddenly popping into my head.

She looked absolutely beautiful tonight, not that she ever didn't though.

It was getting colder, wispy snowflakes falling from the sky just outside. You could hardly think about that when it was so sweltering hot inside of the house, with all the body heat accumulating.

Her eyes found mine for a second, her head jerking away at the sight of me. Now if that doesn't make you feel like shit, I don't know what would. I watched her whisper something into Delly's ear, and the girl immediately grabbed her hand, whisking her off the makeshift dance floor and out of the living room. I watched her boots take each step away from me.

I could feel Mellark's glare as I turned toward Thom. I didn't need to see anything in that direction now that there was nothing left for me to torture with myself now.

"We can leave if you want," Thom said, taking a sip of his beer. The remaining three sat at his feet. He was guarding them against any sneaky teenagers, who were just as upset about the two-beer rule.

I shook my head. "I just want to talk to her." If there was an opening at this stupid party I would take it.

Thom shook his head. "Well she's got two body guards you'd have to get through first. Your chances are not good, that I can assure you. If Blondie's not with Princess then her knight will be."

I narrowed my eyes at him, giving him a good punch in the arm for that one.

He rubbed his arm, keeping his mouth shut.

Ten minutes later, Madge returned, Delly leading her through the crowd. I could spot her anywhere. In a room of drunks, I could find her blonde head of tamed curls. She had kind of shocked me when she arrived, clad in a tight black dress. It was relatively tame, covering most of her skin, and what wasn't covered by the dress was covered by another article of clothing. The dress hugged her body, reaching a few inches above her knees, the sleeves hitting her wrists. It was sexy as all hell. It just wasn't something I could see Madge wearing. She wore bright colors. She wore white sundresses all summer. Her tights were black as well, thin as hell, they couldn't keep her warm in this weather, no way. The tights weren't even opaque, her skin showing through the stretched fabric.

Mellark grabbed her hand immediately, pulling her toward him. She nuzzled herself into his chest, effectively breaking my heart. He wrapped his arms around her, his eyes finding mine across the room. He looked like he wanted to pity me and shove his triumph down my throat all at the same time. Her eyes flashed toward mine for a moment and I watched as Mellark bent down to whisper something in her ear. Madge nodded, still in his arms, her eyes never moving from mine. It was shitty. She was being shitty, even if I did deserve it. She didn't have to act like this in front of me. I didn't care if she had been drinking or not, it was not the way you treated people, not the way Madge treated people. I imagined myself dragging her away from Mellark and her other bodyguard, but it wouldn't work. They would be on my tails within moments and I needed more than a second to get things off of my chest.

I lost her eventually in the crowd, allowing Thom to ditch me for a girl while I got some air outside. The air was crisp, the late autumn wind seeping through my jacket, no matter how many layers I wore underneath it. I was glad Posy hadn't pulled the gloves out of the jacket's pockets or I would be fucked. I smiled at the thought of my little sister's most annoying hobby. The cold brick behind my head seeped through my hair, leaving my scalp feeling cool. I should've brought a hat.

I texted Thom that I was heading home and to leave without me. I couldn't stand to stand in there pretending anymore. It was all fucked and I wasn't going to get any time alone with her, at least not tonight.

I stared down the alley. The house was on the border between the Town and the Seam and the walk shouldn't be too bad, even in this weather. I heard the back door shut and re-open I walked steadily toward the direction of the sound.

"I'll see you later, Del," Madge called out, her speech slightly slurred.

"Beau's gonna be mad at you for not waiting inside for him."

From the edge of the house I watched her eyes flash in delight. "Beau couldn't be mad at me. It's impossible. It's not like I'm ditching him. I'm right out here," she called out laughing. The door shut behind Delly and Madge walked to her car, her boots making imprints in the freshly fallen snow. I could hear the snow crunching underneath with each step.

"Have you been drinking?" I asked.

She turned around, dropping her keys in the snow by her left foot. Her head whipped around, curls flying everywhere. "Yes, officer. Now you can leave me alone."

I stepped forward, moving to grab the keys before she could. I figured I had a good chance since I hadn't drank much and she obviously had had more than the two allotted beers per person. She kneeled in the snow at the same time as I had dived for the keys, her small body pressing against mine. It would've been cute if she still liked me especially.

"Gale," she said, attempting to sound stern. "Give me my keys."

I shook my head, tucking the keys into the pocket inside of my jacket.

"You can't drive in the condition you're in."

Her blue eyes rolled. "I know that. I'm waiting for Beau. He's saying goodbye to all of his friends, so you can leave." The part of her sentence was practically growled in my direction. I took a step back.

"It doesn't have to be like this."

She narrowed her eyes at me, taking a step toward me. "Are you kidding me? You made it like this?" She paused, her eyebrows furrowing and her finger coming up to stab me in the chest. "You completely humiliated me, Gale. You took me for a fucking fool and I fell for it every single step of the way." Her voice broke. "You were supposed to be different with me. I wasn't supposed to be like the rest of them, but that's all I was." A tear fell down her left eye, glistening in the moonlight as it trailed down her cheek.

My throat tightened at her words. I had spent most of my time thinking about what Madge must be feeling, but to hear her actually say what I had done to her, resort our relationship to that, well it made me sick.

"It wasn't like that Madge."

She put her hand up, her palm staring me in the face. "Just stop. I don't want to hear it, Gale. This isn't a teen romance. I am not going to fall in your arms because you say sorry. What you did was shitty, really shitty." Small hands reached up, wiping her face clean of tears. "It's so fucked up, Gale."

All I wanted to do was wrap my arms around her, let her bury her face in my chest. I wanted to comfort her over myself, over what I had done to her, even if she was punching me in the chest to get out all of her aggressions that was fine. I just wanted her in my arms again. I pulled her in and she did just that. Small fists coming up to beat against my chest. My jacket did almost nothing to shield me from her hits. I would've grabbed her wrists to stop her, but I deserved it. I even deserved the slap that hit my right cheek. She was sobbing. I wrapped my arms around her, burying my face in her hair, breathing in the sweet scent of strawberries and an array of fruits. It had been so long, way too long since the last time she had been in my arms, close enough for me to breathe in her scent.

Her punches were coming at a much slower rate, but her arms stayed at her sides. We stayed like this for a few minutes. The snowflakes continued falling, completely covering mine and her hair.

She shivered, roughly pushing me away from her. I took a few steps back, failing to catch myself before I fell in the freezing grass. She looked down at me, her finger still stabbing as if I was still standing where I had been. "Stop fucking with me, Gale!" she cried, the tears glimmering on her pale skin. "It's over, alright?"

I scrambled to a standing position, grabbing her. I was desperate now, she had just said the last sentence I had ever wanted to hear. "You can't say that, Madge."

"I already did Gale."

I shook my head, my wet hair sending drops of cold water in every direction. "But I love you."

I could feel her entire body tense underneath my fingertips. "Don't-Don't say that." She pushed me away again, simultaneously stepping back and running her hand through her hair. "You can't say that, Gale!"

"I said it!" I stepped forward, taking her in my arms. I'd take any damage she could inflict upon me. She just needed to listen to me. "I love you so much Madge and I'm so sorry. I'm so fucking sorry."

She shook her head against my chest, attempting to push me away, but I held on to her, whispering my apologies against her hair.

"Just please, Madge. Give me another chance. Don't be with Mellark. Be with me. We can start all over again. I promise. I'll be better this time. You mean everything to me. You changed everything."

"And you fucked up everything," she murmured between sobs.

I stepped away, holding her face in my hands. "You changed the game and threw me a curveball."

She stared back, her eyes searching mine for a good thirty seconds before pulling herself out of my arms.

"I'm not a fucking game, Gale! This," she gestured between us, "should have never been a game." When she turned around she paused, finding Beau behind us. I had no idea how long he had been out there beside her car. I threw the keys to him before turning my back to the couple, burying my hands in my pockets.

xxx

I never made it home. I had sat on the swings right in front of her house. I watched the lights flicker on and off in her room, switching between the main light and the lamp I knew was beside her bed. I swung, not caring that the metal chains were starting to burn my freezing hands or that I was completely wet.

I fought with myself. She was so close. I could practically see her tucked into her bed, watching reruns of 30 Rock or Parks and Recreation.

It wasn't hard sneaking into her window. The tree beside her window was low, one of the easiest trees I'd ever climbed, even with the snow that was beginning to cover it. My feet only slid a few times, but I was able to catch myself, thankful for the drinks I had passed on to Thom. I took my time sitting on the branch right outside the closed window, her curtains also pulled shut.

I leaned forward to tap, my nails hitting softly against the glass.

I could see her silhouette in front of me. she paused for a few minutes, probably fighting the urge to ignore me and return to her bed.

I tapped again, sighing. This was my last chance.

She opened the curtains, cracking the window open so she could hear me out before shutting the window and leaving me in the cold.

"We need to talk again, please?" I tried my hardest to look as pathetic as possible. I wasn't above pity at this point.

And though she didn't exactly open the window more, her returning to the door, window still open was enough of a welcoming gesture for me.

* * *

_so what do you guys want to happen next? i'm open for suggestions, good or bad._


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